West End Lane closed by police after reports of a ‘very bad smell’

The cordon extended around 100 metres along West End Lane. PIC: Ian Cohen

POLICE officers locked down West Hampstead this morning and evacuated people from their homes because of a “noxious smell”.

West End Lane was closed by police while firefighters investigated the source of the smell in flat above a parade of shops near West End Green.

The extensive police actions spread a level of concern among businesses and residents in the area, but police said they had discovered nothing to cause alarm.

Danny van Emden of West End Lane books said it was “eerily quite” while the cordon was in place.

Speaking before police gave them the all clear, she said: “We heard that police had been called because there was a very bad smell in a flat. Since then they have broadened the cordoned-off area. It’s getting a bit scary actually. Nobody has been told anything.”

A police spokesman said they were responding to reports of a “chemical or noxious smell” but said it had been “checked out and deemed to be nothing suspicious or dangerous”.